Blood Orange Ginger Coleslaw

Coleslaw with a ginger blood orange dressing

This is one of those experiments gone good. I have grabbed some cabbage and radicchio (for color) to make some coleslaw and decided to experiment with the dressing. I happened to have a couple of blood oranges and some ginger root, and that was all the inspiration I needed.

This slaw is a blend of slivered cabbage, radicchio, Vidalia onion, and carrot, but I would have added bean sprouts if I had them on hand.

Note that since this was an experiment, all the quantities are approximate. Ultimately, you want a ration of 1/2 to 1 cup of dressing per 8 cups of slaw vegetables. For the dressing, feel free to adjust seasonings. I might add some sriracha next time for some extra kick. If you like it on the sweeter side, you can whisk in some molasses or brown sugar too. There are no rules just your taste buds!

I want to talk about prepping the slaw ingredients. I hat to buy the pre-shredded stuff at the store (I admit that I have in a pinch though), and the first time I even made coleslaw from scratch (decades ago), I hand shredded the cabbage on a box shredder / grater and it was miserable. I've since learned that if you cut the cabbage in quarters and carve the core out, you can get a great 'shred' by slicing the cabbage quarter REALLY THIN. Same goes for the radicchio. With the onion, you can either quarter it of just cut it in half and slice thin half or quarter rings. Only the carrots benefit from using the box grater and they go pretty quick.

This is delicious as a side dish or on top of a burger, on on a chicken or pork sandwich. Think about adding some cold noodles and some protein; it would also be a great addition to a poke bowl.

THE RECIPE:

1 small sweet onion sliced cut in half and sliced very thin into slivers

1 head radicchio cut in half and sliced very thin

i small cabbage cored, cut in quarters and sliced very thin

2 medium carrots shredded

Juice and zest from 2 blood oranges

2T minced ginger

1T Dijon mustard

2T pure sesame oil

2T honey

1/4C rice vinegar

1/4C tamari

Zest from 2 blood oranges

Cabbage, radicchio, carrot, and onlion slivered

Peeled and minced fresh ginger

Combine the slaw vegetables in a large bowl

Whisk whisk remaining ingredients together until well combined

Add dressing to the slaw and mix well

Store in a a Tupperware or similar container so you can shake it around to distribute the dressing

It's best if you let it marinate at least 6 hours before serving. I like to give it an entire day, and I make sure to shake the container a few times to ensure it's mixed well.